


That free Love with bondage bound.

by Flenser



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: ABO dynamics, Canon Divergence, M/M, Omegaverse, flangst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 20:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5641204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flenser/pseuds/Flenser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean startles awake, groggy and sore, naked, and wrapped around Armin Arlert.  He raises his head and turns bleary eyes to the single window of the little house and spots Sasha’s cheerful face.  She waggles her eyebrows at him suggestively and pulls away laughing when he drops his head back down with a groan.  He inhales deeply, takes in the scent of clean air and dirty bodies, the residual stink of heat faint upon Armin’s skin.  It’s finally over.</p><p>They need to talk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	That free Love with bondage bound.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Tumblr user [Aeschereth](http://aeschereth.tumblr.com)! I'm the world's worst Secret Santa for posting this late, but I hope you had a happy Christmas and that the new year brings you all the Jearmin ABO you could ever want!

Jean startles awake, groggy and sore, naked, and wrapped around Armin Arlert. He raises his head and turns bleary eyes to the single window of the little house and spots Sasha’s cheerful face. She waggles her eyebrows at him suggestively and pulls away laughing when he drops his head back down with a groan. He inhales deeply, takes in the scent of clean air and dirty bodies, the residual stink of heat faint upon Armin’s skin. It’s finally over.

Jean doesn’t know how long it’s been, nor exactly how this came to be. He remembers being sent with Armin to scout a potential rest stop for Levi Squad and the discovery of an old abandoned farm house. He also remembers how good Armin looked that day, eyes bright and his back straight in the saddle, hair shining gold in the sunlight. They’d been growing ever closer over the last several weeks and Jean found himself working up the guts to kiss him. He feels a dopey grin spread across his face as he supposes he _might_ have finally gotten around to it.

Armin stirs in his sleep and Jean gathers him snugly to his chest, heart swelling with affection. They’re spooned on his cloak on the cold wooden floor, uncomfortable now that Jean’s awake, but he can’t bring himself to break the spell. He must, though, and gives the firm little body in his arms a gentle shake. Armin groans sleepily, setting Jean’s pulse rabbiting as it reminds him of other sounds, and resists the urge to forget the rest of the world in favor of staying right here, forever.

“Jean?” Armin whispers.

“Mm, yeah,” Jean grumbles in reply. He nuzzles into Armin’s hair and heaves a contented sigh.

“Oh, my god, Jean,” Armin breathes, going tense all over. “What have we done?”

Jean pulls back, confused, and leans up on his arm to peer down at Armin’s panic-stricken face. “What -”

Loud pounding at the door and what sounds like Connie catcalling signals the last of their reprieve and Armin scrambles away toward his discarded clothes like he can’t get away from Jean fast enough. Jean’s concerned now, suddenly aware that Armin’s reaction is probably warranted. Strictly speaking, omegas aren’t allowed in the Survey Corps, and he has no idea how Armin kept it concealed all this time. If he’s worried about how Eren and Mikasa will react, well, they’ll just have to get used to it because Armin was bound to accept a mate soon anyway. Armin’s smart, though, smarter than anyone Jean knows, and if he deems this cause for worry then Jean will worry, too. They’re together now, and half of Armin’s burden is also his to bear.

Jean thanks his lucky stars that it’s Sasha and Connie sent to retrieve them. Their indictments only consist of jostled elbows and knowing grins, and they wait outside while Jean and Armin dress, an occasional wisecrack loudly hurled their way. Jean almost allows himself a smile at a particularly funny joke, but seeing Armin wince out of the corner of his eye reminds him that this is no laughing matter. He and Armin have done something serious, and they must take it seriously, no matter how desperate he is to relieve the tension. 

Jean shrugs on his jacket and surreptitiously watches as Armin gingerly feeds a thin arm through the sleeve of his shirt. Instantly distracted, he lets his eyes wander appreciatively over the curve of it, and up to Armin’s shoulder and the soft lines of his throat. There he spots the fresh bond mark, burning bright like a brand, and he gasps as his belly tightens at the memory of how it got there.

Armin looks up at Jean’s sudden noise, then quickly away, his cheeks high in color. Jean frowns; he’s not keen on this new shyness, not since they’d just spent the better part of four days getting to know one another in the most intimate of ways, but he understands it, he thinks. He knows Armin has an already tenuous grasp of pride and place, and being bred and bonded has to have shaken that significantly. Yes, society dictates that he should now be content to keep house and get fat with Jean’s babies, far, far away from the Survey Corps, but Jean doesn’t want that for him unless _he_ wants it, and Jean knows better than to ask. Armin’s drive to be his own person is part of what attracted him in the first place.

Armin sways on wobbly legs as he reaches down to grab his jacket, and Jean instinctually shoots out a hand to steady him. Armin’s eyes drop to the hand gripping his elbow, then meet Jean’s briefly before he rights himself and looks away. His eyes are shadowed, veiled in a way Jean hasn’t seen since the day of the foiled kidnapping attempt. Jean growls; he’s not sure what he sees there, but he doesn’t like it. They’re mates now and should have no secrets between them.

“Armin, what’s -”

“Not now, Jean,” Armin murmurs and gently pulls away. “They’re waiting.”

Jean lets him go, hurt, and watches as he joins Sasha and Connie outside in the late afternoon sunshine. Maybe Armin’s right. They’ve already delayed their squad far longer than is probably safe, and there’s no sense in staving off the inevitable tide of questions and accusations. There will be plenty of time to hash things out on the long ride back to wherever they’re encamped, and then they can move on, hand in hand, toward their new life together. Jean smiles at the thought and bends to scoop up his soiled cloak but pauses when he sees the sorry state it’s in.

“Jean! Let’s go!” Sasha calls. One of the horses whinnies impatiently.

Jean flushes and decides to leave the cloak where it lay.

Levi Squad, it turns out, isn’t camped far away. Connie explains that when Jean’s and Armin’s horses turned up riderless half a day after they set out, Mikasa took off to discover what had happened and returned about as shocked as anyone had ever seen her. It apparently took everything she had to keep Eren from coming after them, his anger only assuaged when Levi made the decision to move closer to the safe house in order to monitor the situation. They’ve been circling it since, striking camp before dawn every morning and never farther away than five miles.

Jean watches Armin’s shoulders get higher and tighter as Connie goes on, and Jean wants nothing more than to comfort him, assure him that they’re in this together and whatever consequences befall them they’ll help each other through it. He leans over to Armin to tell him as much, but Sasha’s shrill whistle pierces the air, alerting the rest of the squad to their arrival. She reins in their group and Jean dismounts, hurrying over to Armin’s side to help him. Armin beats him to it, however, and doesn’t look up when Jean ducks his head to seek out Armin’s eyes. They need to talk. “Armin -”

Jean’s roughly shoved aside as Armin’s friends descend upon him in a flurry of concern and relief. Mikasa gently cups Armin’s downturned face while Eren hugs him fiercely from behind. Eren nuzzles into Armin’s jaw, setting Jean immediately on edge, then suddenly rears back as if stung. His nostrils flare, and he yanks Armin’s shirt collar down to expose the freshly scabbed mark.

“You’re _bonded_?” Eren nearly shouts. The look he shoots Jean is one of pure loathing. Jean stares back, wary but firm. Armin had wanted it - asked for it - and it was freely given. As far as he’s concerned it’s a work of art; he is not ashamed.

“Ow, Eren,” Armin hisses and Jean’s hackles raise. A bead of blood swells where the fabric of the collar bites into Jean’s teeth marks and Jean wants to lick it, soothe Armin and his hurts. Eren glances at him murderously and releases his grip.

“This is forever, you know,” Eren accuses, voice rough with an emotion Jean can’t decipher.

“Yes, I know,” Armin murmurs.

Mikasa smooths Armin’s jacket with a gentle hand and adjusts the collar so his bond mark is no longer visible. “The longer he waits the worse it will be,” she tells him.

Armin grimaces and allows Eren to lead him away. Mikasa turns to regard Jean, appraisal heavy in her cool gaze. She suddenly nods, just once, then falls into step behind them, and though it feels something like acceptance, Jean can’t help the sudden bout of nerves that bursts into his blood and unsettles his stomach. He nearly trips in his haste to follow, heart pounding.

When they enter the ramshackle little building used as the day’s headquarters Levi doesn’t even give them a moment to breathe before he pounces. “What were you two thinking?” he demands. His voice is eerily calm, but intense with the tightly controlled anger of a seasoned veteran.

Armin opens his mouth to reply. Jean doesn’t have the heart to watch the Captain tear him apart. “It was an accident, sir,” Jean cuts in quickly. Armin gawps at him but quickly recovers, snapping his gaze to an unfixed point across the room.

Levi’s eyes flash dangerously. “You mean to tell me Armin tripped and fell on your dick?” he asks flatly.

Jean’s face is hot with chagrin. “No, sir, I just meant that -”

“Shut up, Kirschtein,” Levi snaps. “One more word and I’ll punt you back to Trost. You should have known better than to lay your hands on an unbonded omega. Do you realize the danger you put us in? Forcing us to remain in hostile territory while you got your rocks off? And you,” he growls, turning to Armin and making the poor boy flinch, “how did you get past the med screening?”

“I don’t -” Armin stops, sucks in a breath. “I didn’t -”

Levi drags his hand down his face and huffs. “Nevermind,” he grunts. “There’s nothing we can do about it now. What’s your cycle?”

Armin blanches. “My...cycle?”

“Your cycle! Your cycle!” Levi waves his hand impatiently. “Once a year? Twice?”

“I don’t know,” Armin says.

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“I -”

“He’s telling the truth, Captain,” Eren intercedes quickly, and Jean starts. He’d almost forgotten that Eren was there. “We thought he was a beta.”

Levi stares hard at Armin for a moment, then sighs in what sounds like resignation. “This was your first heat,” he says. It’s not a question.

“Yes, sir.”

“Fucking late bloomers,” Levi mutters. He fixes Jean with a steely gaze, then Armin, and shakes his head. “Look, you’re both too valuable to lose, but I won’t have you put this operation at risk again because you’ve gone stupid on each other’s pheromones. One more misstep and I won’t hesitate to cut you loose. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Jean and Armin say in unison.

“Good. You both stink. Go bathe. _Separately_ ,” Levi adds meaningfully. “Oh, and Arlert?”

“Sir?”

“You’d better _pray_ you’re not growing a baby in that belly of yours.”

Armin pales, and before Levi can even issue his formal dismissal Eren and Mikasa have him bundled out the door and away. Jean snaps a sloppy salute and dashes after them, guts churning with worry, but by the time he emerges they’re nowhere in sight. His heart sinks. A bar of soap thuds dully at his feet and he turns to see Connie smirking at him over currying his horse.

Connie jerks his thumb back over his shoulder. “The river’s that way.”

“Thanks,” Jean grumbles. He can take a hint. He snatches the soap up from the ground and heads off into the direction of the river.

“And you have first watch!” Connie calls after him.

Jean closes his eyes and shakes his head. A cold bath is exactly what he needs to clear his mind right now, and with any luck, Armin will be there.

Armin is not there. In fact, Armin is seemingly nowhere, and after scrubbing every square inch of his flesh and turning the camp upside down in his search, he indignantly settles onto a fallen tree in the quickly fading twilight, rifle in hand. It’s obvious Armin or his friends don’t want him to be found, so he’ll just have to wait and keep his mind off things until he decides to return. Levi’s final words keep threatening to overtake his nerves, though, and he hopes it’s not long before Armin comes and sets his mind at ease.

It’s full dark when the snapping of some underbrush alerts Jean to someone’s presence, and Armin and Mikasa materialize from the trees. Jean’s heart leaps: Armin looks good, clean and bright, the color back in his cheeks and shoulders free from tension. He watches silently as Mikasa squeezes Armin’s hand and nods to Jean in acknowledgement, then moves off to disappear back into the darkness. Armin turns to him then and Jean faces him full on, suddenly nervous.

“May I sit?” Armin asks nervously.

“Of course,” Jean says quickly, and moves aside to allow Armin to settle tensely beside him. Armin fiddles with his hands in his lap for a moment, then brings them up to cover his face. He gasps and his small shoulders shudder and Jean realizes in bewilderment that he’s crying. He reaches out, itching to offer comfort, but stops himself. He’s not quite sure if he’s allowed yet and senses Armin still needs his space.

“God knows what you must think of me,” Armin chokes out. “Throwing myself at you like that. I’m so sorry that I dragged you into this and I told Levi that I’ll do whatever you want, I’ll - I’ll go, you’ll never have to see me again, I’ll submit to you as alpha, just _please_ don’t take this out on Eren and Mikasa because they honestly didn’t know and -” He breaks off when Jean lays a warm hand at the nape of his neck. It’s a cheap tactic, but one that works to turn Armin’s panicked heaving into slow, deep breaths.

“Shh, Armin,” Jean soothes while gently massaging. He recognizes what this is now, and smiles despite himself; Armin can’t possibly be more wrong. “I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”

Armin barks a bitter laugh. “We did a lot more than kissing, Jean.”

“True, but...I’ve been pretty sure about you for a while now, and I think it’s the same for you, right?” Jean desperately wants it to be so and finds himself holding his breath awaiting Armin’s reply.

Armin slowly drops his hands back to his lap and peers up at Jean with wide, watery eyes. His face is red and splotchy and oh so endearing. “Are you saying this would have happened eventually anyway?” Armin asks him quietly.

Jean heaves out a sigh and smiles, shoulders sagging in relief. He had no idea how tense he was. “I’m saying you saved me a hell of a lot of heartache,” he says honestly. “You have no idea how many times I chickened out whenever we were alone together.”

“We’re alone together a lot, Jean.”

“I know.”

Armin gazes at him, his expression open and vulnerable in a way that Jean has never seen before. His throat constricts when he realizes that he feels the same way, and reaches out to take Armin’s hand and gives it a squeeze. Armin squeezes back, and Jean’s heart thuds painfully in his chest. They’re on the cusp of something wonderful, wonderful but frightening, and Jean is no coward. Not anymore.

“I don’t want to pretend this never happened,” he whispers.

“I don’t want you to, either,” Armin whispers back.

“I’m sorry I bit you.”

“I’m sure I said all manner of embarrassing things to make you do it.”

“Does it hurt?”

Armin hums and shakes his head. “Only a little.”

“Still. Armin -” Jean pauses and searches Armin’s eyes. They’re beautiful, and trusting, and he doesn’t want to see them screwed shut in upset ever again, but Levi’s words weigh too heavily on his mind. “Promise me that if you’re pregnant you’ll go to stay with my mother,” he blurts.

Armin blinks. “What? Jean, I -”

“She’ll take care of you and love you like her own, I know she will, and when the baby comes I promise I’ll be there and visit whenever I can, and -” A soft hand over Jean’s mouth ends his babbling and Armin peers up at him, brows knit in concern. 

“I think,” Armin begins hesitantly, “that it would be naive of us to discount...pregnancy...as a possibility, but oh, Jean...with the conditions out here and constantly being on horseback and the gear…”

Jean can fill in the blanks. He knows it’s only a remote chance but he just can’t let it go. He gently pries Armin’s hand from his mouth and kisses his palm before bringing it down to massage warmly between his own. “Promise me,” he repeats.

Armin flushes attractively and looks away. “Why don’t we cross that bridge if we get to it?”

Jean considers this, then nods. It’s a fair compromise. “What do we do now, then?” he asks. He’s pretty sure they’re both on the same page now but he has to know with absolute certainty.

“You should kiss me again,” Armin suggests, shy. “It’s just, I don’t really remember it, and I would very much like to.”

Jean grins, and as their lips meet tenderly - again - for the first kiss of many, hormones and heats and whatever be damned, he knows this is exactly how they’re meant to be.

**Author's Note:**

> My fellow trashlords, I walk among you now. My body is ready. Take me. I'm yours.


End file.
